Winter 2006

Innovation in the Air

It seems that every time I meet with a client these days, the subject of innovation comes up. Innovation is hardly a new subject, yet the topic is so “hot” that innovation seems to be in the air. Innovation is in corporate vision statements, advertising, magazines, newspapers, and even in the blogs we subscribe to. Innovation is currently understood to provide the greatest competitive edge—and this is at a time when we are in global competition with countries that seem to do everything better/faster/cheaper than we can. Naturally, I’ve found myself doing a great deal of reading and research on this all-important topic, including an “archeological dig” through Barnes & Conti files and intellectual property from our early days. These “excavations” yielded articles, exercises, and much useful material from the days when Barnes & Conti used the tag line, “The Innovation Company” on our promotional material. In the mid-eighties, when Isabella Conti and I started the company, we were brought together by a shared interest in creativity and innovation—and that was a vital part of our work. Key programs from that period included Developing the Creative Side™ and Managing for Innovation™. In the 1990s our focus shifted from creativity to entrepreneurial risk-taking—a key aspect of innovation—and we delivered the Intelligent Risk-Taking™ and Creating a Culture for Risk and Innovation™ programs to many of our customers. Around 2000 we added Strategic Thinking: Leadership Practices for Innovative Organizations™ to our innovation-related repertoire based on customer needs, and in 2003 we developed Constructive Debate: Building Better Ideas™.

Some months ago, we were very much aware that our customers were looking to us once again as “The Innovation Company.” They wanted us to provide their leaders and managers with a high-quality, integrated-learning experience on innovation. Specifically, our customers wanted their managers and leaders to learn how to manage the cultural, process, strategic, and people issues related to innovation. I wanted to make sure that we developed a program based on excellent research and best practices that was also practical and hands-on. Fortunately, I reconnected with a colleague in the UK, David Francis, Ph.D.,—a deeply experienced OD practitioner and author who is currently the Deputy Director of the Centre for Research in Innovation Management of the University of Brighton. Since then, David and I have joined forces to put together a high-value program (or “programme,” on his side of the pond) that builds on, connects, and extends the work that each of us has done in the past. The program is called Managing Innovation: Exploiting the Power of New Ideas™. (There is a link below to download the brochure describing the program.) We plan to pilot the program this summer and after that, we look forward to introducing it to many of our customers. In this issue, you’ll find an excerpt from the program material as well as a notice that he and I will be presenting at the Bay Area OD Network’s Best in the West Conference coming up in April.

We would very much appreciate hearing from you about your interest in innovation—what are you hearing, reading, experiencing on the subject that interests you? What are the best practices in your organization? What would you most like to see covered in a two-day hands-on program for middle managers? Please click here to share your ideas with us.

On a related topic, we are including a link to a fascinating article about Lego’s innovation process. One of my daughters (now a scientist) was a Lego expert as a child and now her son is traveling the same route—I know first hand how their products enhance and stimulate a child’s creativity. Below is an inside look at how they apply their own creativity to the innovation process.

It is nearly spring and the trees here in Northern California are bursting into bloom. I wish the same for your ideas and innovations.

Kim Barnes

Download Managing for Innovation Brochure

In this Issue: Innovation

“Approaching Innovation,” David L. Francis, Ph.D. and B. Kim Barnes
Innovation in the Media: “Geeks in Toyland” (excerpt), from Wired Magazine, Feb. 2006
What’s New at Barnes & Conti
- New Partner in Australia: BSI Learning
- Barnes & Conti partners with CogBooks for web-based learning
Events, Trade Shows, and Happenings
Public Programs
Recipes: Narsai’s Rack of Lamb, Assyrian, Narsai David
Just for Fun
Featured Art (above) “The Solitary Cedar,” Tivadar Csontváry Kosztka

Approaching Innovation

(An excerpt adapted from Managing Innovation: Exploiting the Power of New Ideas, by David L. Francis, Ph.D and B. Kim Barnes)

What Is Innovation?

Innovation means exploiting the potential benefits embedded in an idea that is new to you. The idea may be one that is extremely creative or one that is novel in a particular environment or application. Many people think that an innovation has to turn the world on its head—but innovations can also be small ideas. If there are enough of them, they take the organization forward.

Innovation is different from invention. An inventor discovers something and feels satisfied. An innovator may champion his or her own idea or an idea from others, and will not be satisfied until substantial benefits are gained.

Innovation is all about the exploitation of selected ideas—where the value added exceeds the costs incurred. Successful Innovation Management means finding more and better ideas than rivals, aligning them with strategy, and exploiting them for greater advantage.

Do Better vs. Do Different

There are basically two approaches to innovation—“do better” or incremental innovation and “do different” or radical innovation. Apple Computer launched an ad campaign a few years ago that grammarians hated, but that was highly descriptive of the company’s innovation orientation. The billboards and ads read, “Think Different” and featured well-known innovative thinkers such as Albert Einstein, the jazz legend, Miles Davis, and the photographer, Ansel Adams. Few would disagree that Apple continues to “think different” to this day.

Implementing a myriad of “do better” micro-innovations can be very worthwhile—Toyota considers that their world-class performance is based on tens of thousands of small ideas that are offered by employees throughout the organization.

It is important to find ways to explore both “do better” and “do different” innovation. Many organizations that are effective at “do better” innovation struggle when “do different” ideas are needed. Some “do-different” ideas yield much greater benefit than incremental innovations. From time to time there can be a breakthrough that re-writes the rules of the game. However, “do different” ideas are often riskier and usually more costly, at least in time and effort.

Chartered vs. Unchartered Innovations

Some organizations, departments, business units, or teams are chartered to create innovations. It is their responsibility. In many organizations, there are clear processes for moving chartered ideas into action. In organizations such as Toyota, everyone is chartered to contribute ideas and there is a clear process for submitting them and for exploiting them and a recognition system for the innovators whose ideas are implemented. In many organizations, however, there is no clear process for ideas that are unchartered (i.e., not expected or asked for, not part of the official role of the person or organization) to get a hearing or to move toward implementation. A few organizations, such as Dupont and Procter & Gamble, have experimented with “innovation offices” or committees where these ideas can be explored. Nevertheless, it is probable that a lot of potentially successful innovations walk out the company door at the end of the workday, still located between the ears of a potential innovator.

We live in a time when innovation has such importance that everyone working in a business or not-for-profit organization needs to be engaged in it—thinking about it, applying it, managing it. Innovation cycles are getting faster and technologies create vast new opportunity spaces. Increasingly, the world needs innovation to deal with vast, global issues like environmental protection and the social consequences of technology and globalization. Barnes & Conti is committed to helping clients to demystify the innovation process, build innovation-friendly environments, and acquire the practical skills to lead, manage and engage in innovation in every part of the organization.

Innovation in the Media:
Lego Looks to Customers for “Open Innovation”

“Geeks in Toyland” by Brendan I. Koerner, Wired Magazine, February, 2006

Lego built a global empire out of little plastic blocks, then conquered the wired world with a robot kit called Mindstorms. So when the time came for an upgrade, they turned to their obsessed fans—and rewrote the rules of the innovation game.

The email from Denmark was only a few lines long. “It basically said, ‘We have an opportunity for you here, but we can't tell you anything until you sign a nondisclosure agreement,’” says Steve Hassenplug, a soft-spoken software engineer from Lafayette, Indiana. The cryptic tone of the email from Lego headquarters hinted at something more than a simple customer survey, but Hassenplug didn't know what.

He guessed it had something to do with Mindstorms, Lego’s programmable robotics kit. After all, he’s a master at assembling the plastic bricks into complex robots, like his wheeled, self-balancing machine dubbed the LegWay, and he’s something of a celebrity in the Mindstorms world. But there hadn't been a Mindstorms update in nearly four years, and rumor had it Lego might abandon the product altogether...

To read the article, click here

What’s New at Barnes & Conti?

New Partner in Australia: BSI Learning

Barnes & Conti is currently forming a partnership with BSI Learning in Australia. BSI Learning provides organizational and people development services and outsourced training solutions in Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific. BSI Learning will be training our Exercising Influence program beginning this spring.

Click here to visit BSI’s website.

Barnes & Conti Partners with CogBooks for Web-Based Learning

Many of our clients have been inquiring about web-based follow-up for some of our popular program and we’re happy to announce that we’ll be teaming up with CogBooks. CogBooks is a company based in the United Kingdom which specializes in offering learning content through proprietary advanced personal tutoring technologies.

To find out more about CogBooks, click here.

Events, Trade Shows, and Happenings

Training 2006 Conference
March 6-8, 2006, Orlando, FL

Kim Barnes, and Jack Harris, MD, Vice President of Global Medical Operations, Lilly Research Laboratories, will be speaking on “Inspirational Leadership: Involving Senior Leaders in Developing the Next Generation.” Session 807, Wednesday, March 8, 2:45 - 4:15 PM

Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) Global Forum
March 20-21, 2006, Las Vegas, Nevada

Please stop by and see us at booth 217 at the Expo.

Best in the West Conference
April 21-21, 2006, San Francisco, CA

Kim Barnes and David Francis, Ph.D., Deputy Head of CENTRIM (the Centre for Research in Innovation Management) at the University of Brighton (U.K.) and Leader of the Innovation Consulting Group, will be speaking on “The OD Practioner as a Facilitator of Innovation” on Friday, April 21, from 2:45-4:45 pm.

ASTD 2006 International Conference and Exposition
May 8-10, 2006, Dallas, Texas

Once again, we’ll be having a booth at the Expo. Stop by and say hello at booth 1108.

Upcoming Public Programs

Exercising Influence
March 13-14, San Francisco, CA
July 20-21, Milpitas, CA

To register for one of our public programs, click here
or go to: www.barnesconti.com/ppsched.php

Featured Recipe:
Narsai’s Rack of Lamb, Assyrian

Narsai David is one of our Bay Area food celebrities. Narsai was quite an innovator as well; he opened his first restaurant in the Berkeley area in 1970, some months before Chez Panisse led the food revolution in California Cuisine. He put his reputation and culinary skills on a line of specialty food products available at gourmet food stores and by mail order. Narsai David is currently Food and Wine Editor for KCBS Radio. In this capacity he has 36 spots a week to tell us some of his culinary secrets.

Kim Barnes had a chance to work with Narsai David recently through the Berkeley Community Fund. Narsai is President of the Berkeley Community Fund—an organization that gives back to the community in order to increase the success of youth, promote social justice, and reduce poverty. Kim had a chance to talk recipes with Narsai, and got him to share his signature recipe for rack of lamb, Assyrian style.

Narsai David’s website

The Berkeley Community Fund

Narsai’s Rack of Lamb, Assyrian

Yield: 4 portions of 3 chops each

You will want 1-1/2 lamb racks, each with 8 to 9 ribs. Ask the butcher to remove the flap of meat and to French cut the rib bones.

Put into a blender and purée:

1 large onion
2-3 cloves garlic
1 tsp basil leaves
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup pomegranate juice*
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup red wine

Rub this marinade well into the racks and put the remaining marinade over the racks in a shallow glass or enameled pan. Set to marinate in refrigerator overnight, or at cool room temperature for 6 to 8 hours.

Wipe off excess marinade and roast in 450 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes for medium rare lamb, longer if you like lamb done to a greater degree.

* If pomegranate juice is not readily available, substitute more red wine.

Narsai also says if you can’t find pomegranate juice, you can use pomegranate molasses, just use 1/3 the amount.

Just for Fun

Innovation in Action?

Three engineers and three accountants are traveling by train to a conference. At the station, the three accountants each buy tickets and watch as the three engineers buy only a single ticket.

“How are three people going to travel on only one ticket?” asks an accountant. “Watch and you’ll see,” answers an engineer. They all board the train. The accountants take their respective seats but all three engineers cram into a restroom and close the door behind them.

Shortly after the train has departed, the conductor comes around collecting tickets. He knocks on the restroom door and says, “Ticket, please.” The door opens just a crack and a single arm emerges with a ticket in hand. The conductor takes it and moves on.

The accountants saw this and agreed it was quite a clever idea. So after the conference, the accountants decide to copy the engineers on the return trip and save some money. When they get to the station they buy a single ticket for the return trip.

To their astonishment, the engineers don’t buy a ticket at all. “How are you going to travel without a ticket?” says one perplexed accountant. “Watch and you’ll see,” answers an engineer. When they board the train the three accountants cram into a restroom and the three engineers cram into another one nearby. The train departs.

Shortly afterward, one of the engineers leaves his restroom and walks over to the restroom where the accountants are hiding. He knocks on the door and says, “Ticket, please.”

The Innovative Watch

Jake is struggling through a bus station with two huge and obviously heavy suitcases when a stranger walks up to him and asks, “Have you got the time?”

Jake sighs, puts down the suitcases and glances at his wrist. “It's a quarter to six,” he says.

“Hey, that’s a pretty fancy watch!” exclaims the stranger. Jake brightens a little.

“Yeah, it’s not bad. Check this out” —and he shows him a time zone display not just for every time zone in the world, but for the 86 largest metropolises.

He hits a few buttons and from somewhere on the watch a voice says “The time is eleven ‘til six” in a very West Texas accent. A few more buttons and the same voice says something in Japanese. Jake continues “I’ve put in regional accents for each city.” The display is unbelievably high quality and the voice is simply astounding.

The stranger is struck dumb with admiration. “That’s not all,” says Jake. He pushes a few more buttons and a tiny but very high-resolution map of New York City appears on the display. “The flashing dot shows our location by satellite positioning,” explains Jake.

“I want to buy this watch!” says the stranger.

“Oh, no, it’s not ready for sale yet; I'm still working out the bugs,” says the inventor.

“I’ve got to have this watch!” says the stranger.

“No, you don’t understand; it’s not ready...”

“I’ll give you $1000 for it!”

“Oh, no, I’ve already spent more than that...”

“I’ll give you $5000 for it!”

“But it’s just not...”

“I’ll give you $15,000 for it!” And the stranger pulls out a checkbook. “Take it or leave it.”

Jake stops to think. He’s only put about $8500 into materials and development, and with $15,000 he can easily make another one.

Jake abruptly makes his decision. “OK,” he says, and peels off the watch.

They make the exchange and the stranger starts happily away. “Hey, wait a minute,” calls Jake after the stranger, and points to the two suitcases he'd been trying to wrestle through the bus station. “Don’t forget your batteries.”